Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Boo to you!
We are celebrating Halloween two days in a row in my family. Last night we had our church Halloween party / Trunk-or-Treat and tonight,...well...you know its all about the candy.
These were my kids' costumes from last year. They are a handsome bunch if I do say so myself. :)Pretty Little Studio has the cutest Halloween papers called Scaredy Cat. I love the fun patterns and great vintage Halloween images to cut out.

I drew on the spider webs with black Stickles.

You can find more Halloween layouts and project ideas on the Pretty Little Studio blog.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hello, hello! Today I'd like to share a few projects with you using the adorable Vintage Shop collection from My Little Shoebox.
Its so easy to make eye catching projects with this fun, whimsical collection.

Products used: My Little Shoebox Vintage Shop: Cardstock Stickers, Attic Treasures, Heirloom, French Lace, 3D Roll Up Flower and Accents, Mini Alphabet Stickers in Rose.
My daughter has changed so much in one year, She went from being a kid to being a beautiful young woman right before my eyes.

This card looks like it may have taken a while to make but it didn't. I cut out faux ribbon from the Rose Ribbon sheet and stacked them to look like real ribbon.Products used: My Little Shoebox Vintage Shop Rose Ribbon and Heirloom.

Friday, October 26, 2012

The leaves are starting to fall here in Virginia but man,... what a beautiful few weeks we have had. The trees look like they are on fire, it's been GORGEOUS!
Maybe if this storm doesn't hit us too hard we can enjoy them for even longer.

I've got a few more projects to share with you using the last of my October kit from Memorable Seasons. I never realized how much I love Simple Stories until I got to work with their Harvest Lane collection.

I pulled out a few dies from my days of working on the Cheery Lynn Design DT to make this shaped card.

The fall leaves are so fun to work with. I cut them out with with a dark yellowish orange paper, inked the edges red and brown and then crumpled them up to make them look realistic.

I did that same process with the leaves below.I kept my design pretty simple so the focus can be on the leaves.

We took a few hours on Sunday to take a drive through Prince William County forest. Of course the scenery was spectacular so I was happy I remembered my camera. I got some great pics of my family.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Halloween is approaching fast, just one more week to go.Pretty Little Studio has the cutest Halloween papers called Scaredy Cat. The cute little vintage cut outs and great patterns are to "die" for.
The layout is based on an Ad Challenge from the Pretty Little Studio blog.

See how perfect the b&w plates and patterned paper match? I kept the gray background the same and added a few touches of orange and black.

My son adores his baby cousin!

I used the following sketch for inspiration which I posted over a week ago.
Everything here was glued down safely with Helmar Acid Free glue.
Thanks stopping by today!

Monday, October 22, 2012

This week My Little Shoebox and Want 2 Scrap are teaming up to bring you 'lots of inspiration.
I am so excited to share with you this layout I made using papers from My Little Shoebox's Secret Garden collection.

Want 2 Scrap provided the My Little Shoebox DT with a package full of goodies. I loved using their corrugated swirls (which I brushed up with white paint), pearl frilly flourishes, and beautiful silver butterflies and corners. The combination of both companies are truly a perfect match.

Leave a comment on each blog featured today. The winner will be chose randomly from all comments from the My Little Shoebox blog AND the designer blogs. Make sure you stop by Want 2 Scrap's Facebook Page and tell them My Little Shoebox sent you.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Hello!
I have been assigned to create 14 centerpieces for our church Halloween dinner/party. Yes, I said 14! Helmar has been a huge help in this matter. I don't know I would do it without this premium glue. Really!

I've had a few 18" foam topiary trees sitting in my craft room for a few years after buying them at a craft store's closing sale. I decided to use them as a centerpiece making the foam ball on the top into a pumpkin.

Here's what you need:

I tore the newspaper into strips and covered the ball at the top using a generous amount of Helmar's Decoupage. Once the glue dried, I painted an orange wash all over the ball.

Once the wash dried, I glue down large twine with Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Glue to resemble the natural lines in pumpkins. Top it off with leaves, a stem and some curled wire.

Since the topiary is going to be top heavy I needed to add some weight to the base. I asked my children to collect sticks for me which I broke off to be just taller than the base. I spray painted them black and glued them all around the base using Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Glue.

Fill the inside with Spanish moss and the project is complete.

Finally, I have this simple Halloween card which I found on Pinterest. (Sorry, original artist unknown.) This has to be the easiest card I've ever made.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Hola chicas! Today on Practical Scrappers we are featuring cards and layouts using the banners and garlands. I discovered how much I love to bunch up banner strips below my flower clusters. I have two layouts to show you using this technique.

I used Pretty Little Studio's ever-so-popular Sandcastle collection. One look at these papers and you'll see why they are so popular.

This is a day we'll always remember -going to the National Zoo with our little man. We got to spend about 5 days alone with my youngest son while we spent the week in VA and DC looking for a house. He loved the one-on-one attention and I loved babying him as much as he'd let me.

The following layout was made from my October kit from Memorable Seasons using papers from Simple Stories. -Gosh I love the prints in this one!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Halloween mode is in full swing here at the Chidester house. The decorations are out and the kids are making up their minds (and then changing their minds) about what they're going to "be" for Halloween. I think we nailed it down to the idea that the whole family will be super heroes as long as my husband cooperates and lets me dress his as the Hulk. We will see.

Today on Practical Scrappers we are featuring cards and layouts all about Halloween -just to help get you in the mood.
An old friend of mine, Pamela Young is holding a sketch contest in celebration of World Card Making Day. She's got some great card sketches on her blog that you must check out. I made the following cards using 2 of her fabulous sketches.

Aren't these papers cute? They are a part of Pretty Little Studio's Scaredy Cat collection. -Which I am excited to show you more of in the next couple of weeks.

The black and white paper and the premade "Magical" pennant is also part of the Scaredy Cat collection. I opted not to go for a Halloween theme here so I stamped the word "you" right on top.

I hope you were able to celebrate Card Making Day. And if not, I've heard it said that its actually Card Making Month!

Friday, October 5, 2012

I challenged myself to use this 8x8 sheet on a 12x12 layout and make it work. I cut out the lighter yellow portions of the run ray and glued it down to the top of my layout. I filled up the space below with this great orange chevron paper. I love the way it all came together.

My youngest daughter is going to be 12 next week. Man, I'm getting old! I no longer have any little girls in the house and that's just sad. Time to figure out how to slow down the process so my boys can stay little.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

It is Wednesday, right? I've been a little under the weather so I'm kinda' confused and a bit out of it these days.

One thing I do know is how awesome my October kit from Memorable Seasons is! I got to work with the Harvest Lane collection from Simple Stories and its really getting me in the Fall mood. The colors in this collection are great, I didn't feel like I had to go with the Fall theme for all of my projects.

I've got a few projects done and more are to come.

I pulled out of old colored wire for this one. -That was fun.

This is a day I will always remember. Our youngest child got to tag along with my husband and I as we flew from Utah to DC to look for a house back in May. His siblings stayed home with relatives since they were in school. He LOVED getting all of our attention and getting that one-on-one that all kids need. I have a feeling that the memories from that trip will stick with him for a long time.

I love Instagram. I figured out how to print the pictures from Instagram by emailing them to myself and going from there. Brilliant! ;)

Everything here was glued down with my oh-so-wonderful adhesives Helmar!